Millet Ven Pongal Recipe / Saamai Ven Pongal / Little Millet Pongal recipe

Whenever I ran out of Idli/Dosa Batter, the first tiffin dish that comes to my mind will be Ven Pongal. Recent time we skip rice and only using Millets for Pongal and we love it. Even my kids used to Millet Pongal / Millet Dosa / Millet Adai recipes. Millets are not only healthy and nutritious but also very tasty grains and if we cook it in right way then it will be delicious treat. If you haven't tried millets before just give it a try with this Little Millet Ven Pongal. 

Millet Ven Pongal Recipe

Prep Time : 10 Minutes | Cook Time : 20 Minutes

Recipe Category : Indian/Breakfast | Serves  4

Ingredients

1. Saamai/Little Millet   1 cup(I used 160 ml cup)
2. Moong Dal/Yellow lentil     1/3 cup
3. Water     5 cups
4. Salt    to taste
5. Hing  1/8 tsp
6. Ghee  1 tsp

To Temper

1. Oil     1 tbsp
2. Ghee   1 Tbsp
3. Pepper Corns      1/2 -1 tsp
4. Cumin seeds    1 tsp
5. Curry leaves    1 sprig
6. Ginger     1 tsp(finely chopped)
7. Cashew nuts    1 tbsp (chopped)
8. Cilantro    few for garnishing

Notes:

I used 160 ml cup size for measuring millet and dal, you can use any cup size, you can use katori/tumbler or any cup. Just use the same cup to measure dal and water. 1 part millet -  1/3 part dal - 5 parts water. This is common for any millet variety and this gives you super soft, well cooked tasty pongal.

This time I did not soak millet or moon dal before cooking, but usually I soak them for 5-10 minutes before pressure cooking.

I used Oil + Ghee, you can also use either Oil alone or Ghee alone to make this Millet Ven Pongal.

Method

• Take Millet & Moong dal in a bowl, wash thoroughly and add it to a pressure cooker, add 5 cups of water, salt to taste, Hing and tsp ghee. Mix well and close cooker with lid and cook for 2 whistles.
• After that wait until pressure cools down and once done, open the lid and mix the cooked dal and millet well.
• And then heat and ghee oil in a tadka pan, when its hot add jeere/cumin seeds, pepper corns and let it splutter and then add broken cashew nuts, ginger and fry well.
• Lastly add some curry leaves and hing, fry well and add it to the cooked Ven Pongal.
• Add some finely chopped cilantro and mix everything well. If needed add couple of spoons of ghee, mix well.
• That's it..Soft & Tasty Saamai/Millet Ven Pongal ready. Serve Hot with Tiffin Sambar & Coconut Chutney.